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List Price: 16
Our Price: $15.00
Product Details
| Shipping Weight: |
0.50 |
| Author(s): |
Esther Hoskins Forbes |
| Vendor: |
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN |
| Publisher: |
Houghton Mifflin |
| Published: |
09 September, 1943 |
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0395067669 |
| Store Code: |
8501 |
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Description: This story of a tragically injured young silversmith who ends up hip-deep in the American Revolution is inspiring, exciting, and sad. Winner of the prestigious Newbery Award in 1944, Esther Forbes's story has lasted these 50-plus years by including adventure, loss, courage, and history in a wonderfully written, very dramatic package. It's probably not great for little guys but mature 11-year-olds or older will find it a great adventure.
Genre: Revolution, 1775-1783; History; Children: Grades 4-6; Juvenile Fiction; Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction; United States; Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9); U.S.; Revolution; Action and Adventure - General; Historical - United States - Colonial; Juvenile Fiction / Historical / United States / Colonial and Revolutionary Periods; Boston; Fiction;
Average Review: 4 stars
Review: Get this book for your kids -- then keep it : It makes me so sad to see how many kids find this book boring. I remember reading it to death as a kid, and loving it even more when I read it to my then-11-year-old daughter (though I have to admit that I loved it more than she did). The prose is crisp and vivid, the plot incredibly exciting, and the characters leap off the page. Johnny and Rab are hot! Come to think of it, that's why I kept rereading it as a kid. This is a book for anyone who loves to read, and maybe that's why so many kids didn't like it. From my adult perspective, I was struck by how witty and nuanced Esther Forbes' observations of life in colonial Boston were -- perhaps beyond the grasp of most kids. I came away thinking about how ambivalent most characters were about the constraints placed on their lives by the mandates of Puritan belief, yet how fundamental faith was to them. I also admired the way Forbes contrasted Johnny's two crushes, the rich and snobbish Lavinia and the honest and loyal Cilla. The scene in which Johnny finally confronts Lavinia, revealing her to be a vulnerable human being rather than a goddess -- and thus letting the air out of his crush -- is masterful. I would categorize this book as young adult rather than children's literature. I find I really like many young adult books because they're not afraid to be about something, and they leave your head full of ideas. Of course, that's like giving your kids tofu when they want a cheeseburger. (I like tofu, too.) But Johnny Tremain is way better than tofu. Read it for your own enjoyment, and if your kids are very good, let them borrow it.
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